No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Girl Who Saves Busload of Elementary Students Given Detention

March 16th, 2008 | Awful Incidents, Awful Publicity

The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District in Seaside, California has just proven the age-old saying, ”˜no good deed goes unpunished.’

15-year-old Marina High School student, Amanda Rouse, felt ill on her way to school last Wednesday morning, and decided to stay on her bus as it picked up elementary school students. The driver would take her home after the elementary route was finished.

However, by doing this, she didn’t follow proper procedure for leaving school grounds with her illness (checking out at the office, getting parent approval, etc.).

While the bus was driving the elementary route, the driver fell out of her seat at a sharp turn, and struck her head. The bus veered to the side and began hitting parked cars.

Rouse immediately jumped into action, hopped in the driver’s seat, applied the brakes and brought the bus to a safe stop.

So what does the school district do in response to this heroic act? Rouse was slapped with a weekend detention for ”˜cutting class.’

The problem here is that years of absolute zero-tolerance thinking have left public school administrators with a very black and white attitude – no room for grey areas, no room for judging each infraction on its own merits.

Rouse should not be punished, she should be praised. School administration should waive the detention and instead thank this girl for her quick-thinking act of bravery.